Sinlung Says: We are just wondering why? Are the people from Northeast not Indian enough? or India is afraid Chinese president will see them as its citizens?

By Kuldeep Tiwari

The Gujarat police don't want any untoward incident to mar the Chinese president's visit to Ahmedabad.

Keeping the objective in mind, the police have asked the management of the hotel where Xi Jinping will be staying to ask its staff from northeast India to keep away from the venue on Wednesday.

According to reliable sources, the police don't want anything or anybody to make a bad impression on Xi Jinping.

"So, they have asked the management to communicate verbally with its north-eastern staff and those from Tibet and ask them to stay away from the venue," sources said. It should be noted that the mall and hotel staff, even those from the north-east, had been issued passes. But they have since been told to keep away from the venue.

Likewise, a police source said, "In order to avoid any conflict the police have asked the north-eastern and Tibetan staff at Hyatt hotel and AlphaOne Mall to stay away from the main venue where the function will take place."

The source added that the police might have taken the steps to avoid mistaking north-easterners as Tibetans.

However, both - the police and the managements played it safe and refused to answer any questions related to the development. When contacted, Joint Commissioner of Police (JCP) Special Branch Vikas Sahay said, "I am very busy, we will talk later." Officials at Grand Hyatt hotel also refused to comment on the issue.

BIZ AFFECTED

Meanwhile, cops have asked AlphaOne to close the mall to general public on September 17. As per an estimate, this could cost them a loss of about Rs 35 lakh.

However, the mall has already started feeling the heat. The police, on Monday, had cordoned the entire mall and surrounding roads for security purposes.

Restricting vehicles from entering the mall is like asking people to stay away from the mall as there is hardly any parking space available in the surrounding area, sources said.

This is affecting mall's footfall and business. Likewise, the Hotel Hyatt also won't be able to admit new guests in the hotel from September 16 night till the Chinese President is in residence.

On September 17, the hotel will have to keep their restaurant and cafe closed for the outsiders/visitors for security reasons.